


I'm hoping that you'll say (that you loved me all this time)

by MissCatherineEarnshaw



Category: Hot Fuzz (2007)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26449804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCatherineEarnshaw/pseuds/MissCatherineEarnshaw
Summary: Given his overall character, Danny always figured his mark was to be interpreted literally, but he did not think it would be to this point.or the AngelButter Soulmates!AU nobody asked for.
Relationships: Nicholas Angel/Danny Butterman
Comments: 20
Kudos: 132





	I'm hoping that you'll say (that you loved me all this time)

**Author's Note:**

> Something like three weeks ago I watched Hot Fuzz, proceeded to read a fuckton of brillant fanworks about it, and then decided I wanted my own, so tada ! Here it is.  
> I have not published anything for a very long time - four years actually - so everything is a little rusty, including my english, please bear with me.

i.

The marks can be anything, from obscure doodles to quotes from great or yet to come authors or even second degree equations. It is up to you to figure out what it means and the person it tethers to you. 

Danny has a small angel drawn on his chest, right next to his heart. 

The marks are not readable at first, leaving each to wait for the moment their smudge of ink will be big enough to be deciphered. There is no universal law when it comes to it, although the matter is usually settled when you reach teenagehood. 

Danny is ten when he is finally able to pinpoint what his mark represents. He is not sure how he feels about that, although of course it is rather a relief not to be stuck with a nasty one, the kind kids whisper about during recess. Truth is, the only person he would have really liked to tell was his mother, and at that point, his precarious two-unit family is still struggling with her recent passing. He ends up telling his father anyway, one small part of him hoping desperately that this will help mend the bridge that seems to have formed ever since she left the two of them alone. 

He drops the news one evening as they are sat in front of yet another depressing dinner - this almost seems to work for a moment, as his father looks at him with expectant eyes. "Really? What is it then?" 

The initial impulse is gone and Danny feels shy now - the light of interest on his father’s face is almost too much to bear.

"A small drawing of an angel."

His father's mouth breaks into an unexpected smile. 

"That's good. That's perfect. It means you'll find yourself a kind girl, someone who will really care for you."

Danny knows what is coming next, and he knows he does not want to hear it - yet stopping his father from saying the words feels as unfathomable as derailing a train at full speed. 

"I'm glad for you Danny. She will be as good to you as your mother was to me.”

And there it is again, the wave of sadness that threatens to overwhelm them both when they are talking about her. There is really nothing Danny can answer to that, so he ends up focusing on his plate instead. His father is at loss too, and after clearing his throat once, twice, he finally settles on telling Danny an anecdote from the station he already heard a hundred of times - there is really not much happening at Sandford.

That night, as he is lying on his bed, Danny cannot help but stare at his mark, his neck craned. For the life of him, he cannot picture the girl who would fit with such a mark. Most of all, he does not understand why a girl like this, if she actually existed, would settle down for someone like him. 

  
  


ii.

The fateful night Danny Butterman finally gets to meet his soulmate pretty much begins like every other night - that is him alone at the pub, savoring a well earned pint after a long day's work. He notices the blond as he comes in, of course, as much you notice anyone you do not know in a town like Sandford. And then he hears him as he gives his name to the Porters and his world halts for a second. _Angel._ For fuck's sake. Given his overall character, Danny always figured his mark was to be interpreted literally, but he did not think it would be to this point. It could be a coincidence, of course, but Danny doesn't really believe in coincidences after twenty years of radio silence. There is no denying the magnetic pull he feels when he looks at that damned Nicholas Angel either. 

He spends the next hours drinking pint after pint, in what looks like an unconscious way to get the attention of their new sergeant, who seems for the moment very busy getting every customer out of the pub. Till the moment he finds himself hauled by Nicholas on his own car and sure, maybe he has been very conscious of his attempts to get noticed after all. Nicholas does not let him go as they walk from the pub to the station, although he keeps picking up strays on the way. Even in his current state of inebriation, Danny is hyper aware of their brief point of contact - God, he really is screwed. 

He wakes up in a cell the next morning, his head pounding just a bit, not quite realising where he is at first. It dawns on him pretty quickly though, and once he has figured out the _where_ , the _why_ comes soon enough, eliciting a groan of despair. 

He gets to stay nearby as his father gives Angel the tour of the station. Danny sees the disappointment in their new sergeant's eyes as he realises what _evidence room_ and _riot room_ mean down here and he cannot help but feel this disappointment is aimed at him somehow. He also witnesses first hand Doris' inept attempt at flirting and the surge of possessiveness he experiences then is nothing short of embarrassing. 

Danny spends the afternoon shooting question after question about his life in London to an increasingly annoyed partner, each answer corroborating the unbearable truth - he is so far gone it is not even funny. 

  
  


iii.

At some point during _Point Break_ , that first night Danny manages to get his partner wasted _and_ sprawled out on his couch, Nicholas tenses up again. Danny cannot figure out when exactly or why, but something is definitely amiss. The cogs in Nicholas' big brain are churning out again and it looks like all the work Danny has accomplished since they got their first pint has flown out of the window. As the credit rolls, he gets up to get the DVD out of the player, all the while feeling Nicholas' intense stare on him. 

"This soulmate thing must be a funny business in a town like Sandford eh?" 

Danny is very glad not to be facing Nicholas at the moment because he is sure the dilatation of his pupils or some shit like that would have betrayed him. It is way too early in their relationship to be talking about soulmates already, but Danny has resigned himself to the fact by now - everything about them has been on fast track ever since that night Nicholas tackled him on his car door. 

"What do you mean exactly?" he asks carefully, deliberately slow as he puts his DVD back to his rightful place.

"Well, I guess everyone must either find their soulmate very quickly or realise they don't live here and despair they will ever meet them."

"You've got a point. My parents were first category for that matter." And his father will never let him forget that - one more expectation to be burdened with. "But you've forgotten the third option."

Danny takes a leap of faith and looks at Nicholas then. He finds his partner sitting upright on the couch, his eyes alight with interest. He tilts his head, letting Danny know he has his full attention. 

"The third option is when you hope your soulmate has been here all along and you have only failed yet to interpret your mark properly.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Nicholas agrees with a half smile, and Danny really hopes he will leave it at that, except -

“Is that your case Danny ?”

It is embarrassing to look at Nicholas then, as he feels his cheeks heating up. He does not want to lie to him but he cannot tell the truth either. Nicholas probably feels his embarrassment because he immediately backs down.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pray. Forget I asked.”

Danny should really take the easy way out and use this opportunity to steer away the conversation from this dangerous road - but he can already feel Nicholas clamming up again.

“What is it like, having a soulmate in London then ?” he blurts out, his curiosity getting the better of him. 

If Nicholas is startled by the question he does not show it, answering good-naturedly “Well, I am not sure I’m the most qualified person to answer that. But I can tell you nobody has ever seen my mark yet.”

They both look at Nicholas’ wrist then, tightly wrapped in a leather cuff. In Danny’s experience, people whose marks are in more accessible places - arms, ankles and so on - are often less aware of the necessity to hide them, as if it was not as intimate to them as it was to the others, and in overall less tight-lipped about their marks. It figures though that Nicholas, always eager to follow the rules and to set an example, would cover up his mark preciously.

“Nobody ? Not even Janine ?”

“I have always known my mark was not meant for her, so there was no point in her seeing it. She connected the dots though. I think it’s probably one of the reasons she broke up with me in the end.”

“Was it not important for you ?” Danny presses despite himself, his fists tight without even realizing it.” Your mark not matching her ?”

Nicholas looks a bit puzzled then, but he only shrugs and drinks another sip of his probably lukewarm beer.

“Not really, no. It wasn’t a factor I took in consideration in our relationship. I guess I have always considered a mark was not good enough a reason for two people to stay or even get together in the first place. Do you ?”

Danny thinks of his own mark, pulsing along with every beat of his treacherous heart.

“No, you’re probably right.”

They never mention it again after that.

  
  


iv.

There is another consequence of living in a small village all your life when it comes to soulmates they did not speak about that night - there is at least one person you know, aside from your family or loved ones, that should by no means know what your soulmark is and still does. In Danny's case, that person is Doris, who took advantage of an ugly tackle during one of their teenage rugby games to ogle up his mark. 

A small part of Danny hopes that she has forgotten it after all this time - until the day she catches him staring a second too long at Nicholas and smirks at him with an evil glint in her eyes.

He tries to avoid her for the rest of the day but she takes advantage of the moment he is alone in the break room to prepare his tea - well his and Nicholas' if he is being honest - to drop down on him. 

"You should tell him." she asks him very matter of factly, clearly seeing through his attempt to look very busy fumbling with the kettle. He could claim he has no clue what she is talking about but he knows the surest way to piss Doris off is to consider her dumber than she actually is and a pissed off Doris is the last thing he needs at the moment. 

"I don't see what good it would do."

He hopes she does not notice the way his hand trembles slightly as he pours the water. From the way her voice softens as she answers, she does. 

"Danny, we have all seen the way you look at him when you think nobody is watching. You have earned the right to be happy."

"I am perfectly happy as it is." Danny snaps. "He is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my goddamn life. I get to spend my days with him at work, to accompany him for a pint at the pub, to have him fall asleep on my couch most nights. Pray tell me, what more could I hope for ? Nothing worth putting this at risk."

Doris looks stricken at the end of his speech and for a moment, Danny believes it will be it. He is at the threshold juggling his cuppas when he finally hears her answer. 

"We have seen him looking back."

  
  


v.

When Danny wakes up in the overwhelming whiteness of the hospital, it takes him a few seconds to get used to his surroundings and to the pain coursing through his body. There is one thing he recognizes instantly though - the feel of Nicholas' hand pressing his own. The sergeant is slumped on what looks like a very uncomfortable chair, right next to his bed. Nicholas isn't one to fall asleep easily, even in the comfort of a couch after a well deserved cop-movies marathon and Danny wonders how long he must have stayed here to be this exhausted. 

"He hasn't left your side since you got here." a soft voice answers his silent question, and it is only then he realises a nurse is standing right next to him, checking his vitals. 

"And how long would that be?" His voice sounds strange to his own ear. 

"Two days and a half. He harped on every professional who dared to ask him to leave."

"Well, once Nicholas is set on something, it's pretty hard to change his mind."

"He is certainly set on someone." she answers in a light tone and Danny is not sure how to respond to that so he merely smiles. The nurse - Olivia, if her badge is to be believed - probably takes it as a sign he is still tired because she whispers "I will leave you to it" and the next moment she is gone, closing the door softly behind her. That is enough to wake Nicholas up, who suddenly raises his head, startled, his eyes meeting Danny's. The relief which lightens his face is almost too much to bear, and really how is Danny supposed to reign on his feelings with his partner looking at him like that? 

"You have been crying." he says almost absentmindedly, taking in Nicholas' red eyes, still struck with grief.

Nicholas huffs at that, but his answer is fond rather than exasperated.

"Of course I have been crying. I wasn't sure you would make it out of it alive, you self - sacrificial moron."

As he speaks, Nicholas presses his hand tightly and Danny's heart clenches with how much he loves him and how much he wants to hope. That’s when it hits him. His heart. What with the shooting, the explosion, the ambulance and the hospital, there is no way his mark stayed hidden from Nicholas. His hand immediately goes up as in reflex on the spot where his mark should be, already covered by the hospital gown. Nicholas watches him wiggle without a word and Danny lowers his head. He does not want to face the inevitable distance in his partner’s eyes as he tells him politely his feelings are not reciprocated.

And then - he feels the ghost of a touch on his cheek, and sure enough, it’s Nicholas, looking like anything but a man about to reject him.

“What do you think you are doing, fidgeting like that ? This is not good for you.”

“You have seen it.” Danny says in a lowered voice, forcing himself to look at Nicholas in the eyes.

“I did. And honestly Danny, I don’t get why you didn’t tell me about it.”

"Because I knew there was no way the universe would be so kind to me."

Nicholas pulls back his hand at that and a sound of protest rises from Danny’s throat, until he realises he only removed it to unfasten his leather cuff.

“You know what Danny, I have always thought you were short two qualities to be as good a cop as you could be.” Nicholas begins slowly, revealing his wrist as he does. “The first one is observation.”

Danny finds himself staring disbelievingly at the tightly handwritten inscription _You want me so bad, it’s like acid in your mouth._

“Is it...is this from _Point Break_?” Danny whispers. He cannot wrap his head around the idea.

“Like you don’t know all the lines from this movie.” Nicholas answers, the fondness obvious in his voice. 

It really dawns on him then, and Danny suddenly feels like a great weight has been lifted from his chest. He manages to get his voice steady as he asks his partner “So tell me master, what is the second quality I have been missing ?”

“Have some faith in yourself.” Nicholas answers quietly, and then he kisses him.

Danny would like to say this kiss is everything he has ever imagined it to be and more, but the truth is it is actually softer than he would have thought and most of all it, is over way too quickly - he has not even had the time to properly process what happened to him than Nicholas already pulls back. Danny protests immediately, standing upright in an attempt to get him close again but his partner will not have it, caressing his hair and holding him still as he whispers, their foreheads almost touching "One step at a time, you will strain yourself. We have got the rest of our life for that."

“I thought the marks were not good enough a reason for two people to get together.” Danny answers, still not quite believing what is happening to him. Nicholas chuckles.

“I should have realised you would not let me forget that. I stand by what I said though. The marks are not good enough a reason. You are.”

There is only one proper way to respond to that and this time, Danny is the one to close the gap and kiss Nicholas.

**Author's Note:**

> There you go ! Hope you enjoyed this hot mess. As always, kudos and comments are love :)  
> Full disclaimer - I have not watched Point Break, nor I do not know anything from this movie that does not come from Hot Fuzz, so I hope I have not widly misinterpreted that quote - which without context sounded pretty not heterosexual to be honest.


End file.
